Smartphone App Helps Users Identify Nearest EDs

Krislyn M. Boggs and Carlos A. Camargo, Jr.
Aug 03, 2017

Most people know where their local emergency departments
(EDs) are, but how many know where the closest EDs are while traveling? For
anyone who suffers from a chronic health condition—or is traveling with someone
who does—always knowing where to go in an emergency can provide some peace of
mind in an otherwise frightening situation.

In 2010, the Emergency
Medicine Network (EMNet), an international
research collaboration based at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston,
developed an app that provides this essential information. The EMNet findERnow app,
available for free on iPhones and Androids, shows the distance and directions
from a user’s current location (or a searched location) to the closest EDs—anywhere
in the United States.

The ED landscape is changing continuously in the United
States, with new EDs opening and others closing almost every day. We can make data updates to the app in real time so information
is always current. The app also allows users to quickly phone the hospital
or, if necessary, 911 emergency services.

We think this app is valuable for travelers, parents, and
caregivers. Many others may find it useful as well, such as emergency medical
transport providers who need to locate the nearest ED on long transports or ED
staff who are relocating and want to learn about local EDs in a new area.

Building the
App

We initially collected the data used in findERnow to
create the unique National Emergency Department Inventory-USA database, which
includes information about all EDs that have been open since 2001. A few years
later, we mapped out the location of every ED to develop the first version of
the findERnow app, thereby sharing our comprehensive database with the public.

For a few years, we had wanted to enhance the app by providing additional
ED-specific information. In 2015, we started a
collaboration with the R Baby Foundation, which, like EMNet, strives to improve
emergency care. With funding from the foundation, we surveyed the more than
5,000 EDs identified in our app to learn more about their pediatric
capabilities.

This pediatric information has been incorporated into the
app. As of March 2017, app users who subscribe to the new Pediatric Upgrade can
quickly view ED-specific pediatric characteristics, an important tool given the
variability in pediatric emergency care. When users see a baby icon next to the
name of an ED, they can know that the facility is more likely to be prepared to provide emergency care for children (e.g., the ED has a pediatric emergency care coordinator).

In addition, all findERnow users can now freely and quickly access basic characteristics about any ED, including whether it is a verified trauma or burn center.

An Essential Resource

We hope that by differentiating EDs using the baby icon,
our findERnow app will help parents improve their children’s
emergency care and will motivate many EDs to improve their pediatric emergency
care preparedness.

Our goal is for everyone in America to have findERnow on
their smartphone. More than 30,000 people have downloaded the app, and we know that most
learned about findERnow through word-of-mouth. We hope healthcare stakeholders
will help us spread the word as we get ready to launch our first major marketing
campaign with the R Baby Foundation.

Krislyn M. Boggs is a project coordinator at the Emergency
Medicine Network, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.

HFMA RESOURCE LIBRARY

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